Purpose driven flower beds … Gladiolus: The Dark Knights

I.Love.Flowers. I do. Over the past 6 years I have created quite a few flower beds (10 beds, actually!) because like Claude Monte I need flowers every day. 🙂

then came the first bloom

I am still learning and deciding which styles I like for beds, and how to display the flowers in the beds; i.e. in groups or dispersed throughout, one color / color theme or a mix of colors. I also like the idea of a ‘cutting flower’ bed, where the flowers are purpose grown specifically for cutting.

every stage of growth shows something new

This particular bed (photo at top) was created with the intention of using it for planting squash. I wanted to grow squash on a trellis. Maybe you’ve seen pictures on Pinterest of how lovely that can look? So I killed the grass with newspapers (that is shorthand for explaining how to kill grass without chemicals: cover with newspapers for minimum 3 months), dug up the soil, added compost, let it sit for a season and then it was all set for planting. The only problem was that we weren’t set for building a trellis (yet).

gladiolus with supports (calendula in the bottom left photo)

The squash lost out, because I decided that I was going to fill the bed with the 40 Gladiolus which I had bought the previous year. Of all 40 bulbs, not a single one bloomed in the containers I had planted them in. I was hoping that maybe in some nice compost and enough room they might be happier and I’d get a few flowers.

the blooms are quite large

What a turn-around those bulbs had after I planted them in the bed. They have been blooming since mid-July and it is now mid-August and they still looking all showy.

growing a bit sideways

About the colors… I like purple in the garden, and the picture on the package is purple and burgundy and nothing at all like the purple and red colors which have bloomed in my garden. It reminds me too much of Christmas! But never the less, I love them.

we get a lot of wind!

Can you guess which way the winds blow at our house? The poor stems were fighting a loosing battle. I’m not sure how much help our supports are for them either, since they are still leaning forward! But they continue to bloom and they are simply stunning.

between the bloom size and color and hardiness, I love these guys!

perfect flowers

cuttings from the garden

I have indeed cut stems and put them in a vase a few different times. The stems are so long that after the lower flowers die I can cut the stem a second time and continue with all new blooms at the top of the stem.

2nd half of the stems!

showy from across the garden, too

I really like how they stand out across the garden. Unusual colors for my garden, but I can make them work.